Vol. 9 (1989), No. 3

VOLur. .IE IX

NUl\1BER 3

leAL

S CIETY MARCHNEWSLETT'ER APPIL MEETING Friday, April 7, 1989 7 :00 H-1 Room 335, Borlcug Hall St. Paul Campus, University of Mi nnesota The sF*'aker for our April rreet_ing will be Dr. Jeffery Lang. His topic t.itle be "Making Male Muggers at Madras in May" - Sex detennination in crocodiles.

will Jeff has just ret.urned from several nnnt.hs in India where he is continuing his research on crocodile biology and behavior. The focus of his research has been the effect of temperat.ureon the sexdetennination in Mugger crocodiles.

Jeff will also discuss some of his new research projects. to the snovv and University closing last. rronth, our normal ~1arch meeting was cancelled. The March t.alk on rat.tlesnakes has been rescheduled wi th Barney OldfiE'ld and Dan Keyler to be presented at the ~'Jay meeting.

Co

Elections will be held at this April meeting. A sample ballot and infonnation on the election follows in this newsletter. We hope to have a large roember turnout for this meeting. We can still accept no~nations for this election. "critt.er" for t.he nont.h of April will be YOUR FAVORITE HERP. This critter of the month has become a tradition for our March meeting and is always well represented. vJe did not vmnt thi s t-radi tion to be dropped do to t.he snovv and lack of a March meeting. Look t.hrough your collection and try to pick one that_ is your favori te. Try t.o be ablE' to share the reason why it I S your favori te with the other members. Anyone interested in bringing a venorrous herp must contact Bruce [)elles at 593-0298 or 374-5422, or contact. Den Keyler at 933-2055. This is a safety precaution and must be done. \'ve have seen nany different t.ypes of reptiles and amphibians at previous "favorite herp" showings, so please remerober to bring a camera and flash at.tachrnent. If you get some good pictures, rE'.-member to enter them in the next M.R.S. Herp Photo Contest!

The

SNAKFBITE fl.':ERGENCY ~1innesot.a

Poison Control System 221-2113 (outst_ate) 1-800-222-1222 Hennppin Regional Poison Cent_er (612) 347-3141

BELL MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY 10 CHURCH STREET S.E. • MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA 55455-0104

lJPCX1.1ING M. B. S. PROORAMS

The

follo~ng

is a list of planned events for future M.B.S. meetings:

May' 5 - Dan Keyler and Barney Oldfield will rattlesnakes that was planned for the March rreeting.

present

their

June 2 - John Moriarty will speak on NarES ON THE FORTHCOMING FIEID

talk

on

~EASON.

Plea se mark your calendar for these rreetings. Any changes to the dat.e or event will be announced at the monthly rreetjng or in future newsletters.

REFRESHMENTS

M.B.S. is still in need of a Refreshment Canmittee Chairperson. If we do not have a volunteer by the May meeting, there will be no refreshment table at the nonthly meetings. We have had a great response for members willing to bring the treats every month, but someone must come to t.he meetings 10-15 minutes early to make the ooffee and Kool-Aid at the t.able. This person than t.akes 10-15 minutes after the meeting to close the table down.

Ruth Mel tzer is presently the Cornmittee Chairperson. She would like to show someone what the duties fire if you have an interest. .

M.B.S. OFFICERS PRESIDENT VICE-PRESIDENT SECRETARY

TREASURER NEWSLF.ITER EDI'IOR MEMBER-AT-IARGE MEMBER-AT-lARGE MEMBER-AT-LARGE :MEMBER-AT-lARGE

Ann Porwoll John Moriarty Kate Anderson Del Jones Torn SchIl1itz Bruce Delles Bruce Haig Aaron Hanpton John Meltzer

(612) (612) (612) (612) (612) (612) (612) (715) (612)

489-7853 647-1334 222-3500 938-8555 488-7619 374-5422 789-4637 425-7565 780-8561

FAREWELL ADDRESS OF THE PRESIDENT

Looking back over the last two years of my presidency, many things come to mind.

The first day I stood up in front of the membership to lead a meeting, I was scared.

All those faces, looking at me to orchest_rate the evening. Thoughts of, would I be able t.o keep the lTlf'eting going, might I leave out one of the nonthly events or forget someones name. I survived that first night and learned that. our organizat.ion is made up of a broa.d spectrum of people, Who are grea.t t.O -work wi.th.

The M.B.S. board wa.s a whole different ID3tter. These were the people the society had chosen to manage the organization, and I was to preside over them. Luckily there were a few old timers that knew the ropes and they enlightened me to past procedures.

I also had a. lot of first t.iroers, Who brought with them new ideas and energy. Working together, we were able t.o continue a strong and growing society.

I -would like to thank the mard merribers at this time for their supIX>rt and hard work.

Some of the faces have changed during my term, but you have always been til.ere When I've needed you.

Working with the many different chairpeople over the years has been great.

These people are an essential part of the organization. Their willingness to run a con:tni ttee took a big resIX>nsibility off my shoulders. There were many event.s that would not have taken place if I had t.o run the.rn all. There is .not enough time for one person to organize and run all of M.B.S. 's activities and still remain sane.

Thanks to your help, we were able to maintain all the conmittees and give ~1.B.S. the variety and diversity that are important to it's existence.

I also wish to thank all those til.a.t have contributed to the society, whether it be finances, raffle i terns, refreshments, att.ending meetings, ~7ri ting articles or assisting on a conmittee. Your involvement makes being president easier.

My stepping down from the presidency does

not mean I will be retiring to a California ranch to live out my days. :No, I will stay right here in Minnesota in an advisory capacity as Past President. You'll sti 11 see me at meetings and now I'll even have time to visit with you, instead of running around making sure things stay on schedule.

I wish the new officers good luck and ask the membership to continue to support and work with them as you have worked with me.

Sincerely,

,~ J

DON'T GET CAUGHT IN A HIDE BOX! Join the AFH. If you are interested in the captive care and breeding of amphibians and reptiles; join the American Federation of Herpetoculturists and receive its color. glossy magazine. THE VIVARIUM.

Write to: AFH.

3

P.o.

Box 1131. Lakeside. CA 92040 U.S.A.

A NarE FROM CARL HORNFELDT

There is a widely held belief among the general public that aninals instinctively know not to eat poisonous plants. This, unfortunately I is defini tely not the case.

Our experience at. the Hennepin Regional Poison Center indicates that plants represent. the major source of poisoning in small animals. In addit.ion, plants are a major cause of poisoning among grazing animals as well. In a review of seventy cases of illness in tortoises, the authors of the following article cite an incident which may be the only reported case of possible plant poisoning in a reptile. The following information is excerpted from that report.

One tortoise 'wos presented having died suddenly with no apparent illnes.

The carcass was in good condition and there were no external or oral lesions. Postmortem examination revealed a pale Ii ver and slight yellow discoloration of the body fat.

No gross abnormalities were observed on initial examination of other viscera and both stcmach and lxJwel were distended wi th ingesta.

The large and small intestines were found to contain partly-digested green plant material (mostly dandelions and grass). The storrach, however, was packed wi th buttercup flowers Ranunculus sp. and there was a 1.5 em diameter I henorrhagic area in the mucosa of the greater curvature of the gastric fundus. No other lesions were found.

The owners a~tted feeding large numbers of buttercup flowers to the tortoise immea.iately prior to death and the gastric lesions were sinnlar to those described in buttercup poisoning cases in mammals.

The gastric lesion appeared macroscopically to be acute and histopa.thology showed submucosal hemorrhage associated with edema of the underlying muscle. There was no inflamnatory reaction, suggesting that this was indeed an acute lesion, and a variety of staining techniques failed to demonstrate microorganisms (1).

Since virtually nothing is known about poisoning in reptiles, it rrey be wise to feed reptiles only those plants known to be safe to other animal species.

Respectfully, Carl S. Hornfeldt., R.Ph. Hennepin Regional Poison Center REFERENCE

1) Holt. PE, Cooper JE, Needham JR: Diseases of Tortoises: cases. Journal of Small Animal Practice, 20;269,1979.

4

A

review of

seventy

INCUBATION OF REPI'ILIAN EGGS

By Del Jones

(Reprinted fram M.H.S. Vol.IV,No.10, Nov,1984) Once the blessed event has happened and you have been presented wi th a clutch of eggs, the question quickly becomes "~Vhat do I do with them now?"

A. widely

used (and usually qui t.e successful) technique is to use danpened vermiculite(l) as the incubation SUbstrate.

Vermiculite is comronly used as pourable insulation or in potting soil mixtures. It is made from mica that has been expanded by high heat. The vermiculite is inorganic and therefore does not. support any fungal or mold growth.

This makes it a nearly ideal medium for incubating eggs.

The first documented use of vermiculite that Ilm aware of was by Tryon(2). He recommended that the vermiculite be moistened with a equal weight of water. I have used this ratio with good success on both snake and lizard eggs. If you don I t have easy access to a reasonably accurat.e scale, a 10: 1 ratio by volume of vermi cu Ii te to wat.er will work. Another method of rroistening the vermi cu Ii te is to add water until the vermiculit.e is completely sat.urated. The mixture is then canpressed by hand and the excess water is allowed to drain off. Any of the above methods should result in a properly moistened substra.te.

The substrate should be spread evenly over the bottom of a flat toppeo waterproof container to a dept.h of t.wo to three inches. A plastic shoe or sweater OOX works great for this. The idea behind the fla.t top is to allow the condensation on the lid to drip evenly over the substrate and maintain uniform moist.ure throughout the incubator. Another factor in maintaining uniform rroisture is the even application of heat.

Heat applied to one side or only to the bottom will result in dry areas in the SUbstrate. The ideal method of te..nperature control is to have the incubat.or surrounded by still air of uniform. temperature.

The eggs should be buried at least half way in the sUbstrate. An easy method is to bury the eggs and then brush the vermiculite away until just the surface of the egg is exposed.

There has been some discussion as to whet.her turtle eggs need to be completely covered. Once turt.le eggs have been set, the egg should not be rotated so a different side is up. A pencil mark on the egg will aid in identifing the "t.op" if the eggs are renoved for inspection or candling.

The temperature should be maintained between 26 degrees C and 30 degrees C (80 and 85 degrees F). Temperatures above 32 degrees C tend to cause death or deforrrdties in the erribryos.

(1) Vermi cu Ii te: Available at lumber ya.rds or greenhouses in 3 cubic foot 'bags.

(2) Tryon,B. 1975 "How to incubate reptile eggs: a proven technique." Bulletin of the Nevv York Herpetological Assoc.

5

M.B.S., ELECT.IONS A sarrple of the M.B. S. Election Ballot which will be used at t-he April meeting was run in the February M.B.S. newslett.er. As of this writing there has been no changes submitted for publication. If you are interested in running for an office, Nominations can be made from t_he meeting floor that Friday night, or by calling Liz Bosman (Election Comnittee Chairperson) at 476-0306 any time before the meeting ..

Reroeniber, anyone being nomination is made.

nominated

should

agree

to

the

possi tion

before

the

TRANSPORTING HERPS DURING TEMPERATURE EXTREMES

by Terry Odegaard (Reprinted fram M.B.S. Vol. II, No.2, Feb,1982)

Reptiles and Anphibians can be rroved about in very hot or cold wea.ther if a Ii ttle thought is given to the problem.

During cold weather small specimens can be put in a container and simply stuck under your coat.

A suitable container in this case wight be a pint milk carton, plastic jar, or cloth bag. Of course when a ba.g is used care must be t.aken t.o insure the specimen is not squashed accidentally.

Larger specimens may be carried in a picnic cooler. A hot water bott.le wrapped in a t.owel will keep things cozy inside for the critter you Ire trying to keep warm. A thennorreter might be used to keep an accurate check on the temp. Also, pre-heating the car when possible helps.

In hot weather our problem is keeping our specimens a.t a cool enough constant terrperature.

Once again, the picnic cooler is useful. Only, instead of a hot water 'bottle, a.dd a milk carton of coffee can full of ice cubes. Wra.pping the ice container in a tov.rel will avoid cold spots in the cooler. Keep the cooler out. of the sun, and if the cooler must sit in a car, the windows should be kept open.

In hot or cold weather, be sure to check the cooler Is temperature frequently to let you know if adjustnents should be made. I have use.a these methods with great success on the coldest Minnesota winter days and in the excessive heat of the Mexican desert.

~ ,'\~ I.

___ -

_."

CLASSIFIEDS

PLEASE SEND AU, NEVJSLEITER ARTICLES AND CLASSIFIED ADS TO: fun Schmitz, 850 W.. Minnehaha, St.. Paul,~ .. 55104, Attn: MRS Editor. DO Nor send articles or ads to the Iv1HS address. The deadline for all Newsletter it~Jns is the 15th of the rronth!

All Classified ads are run in the MRS Newsletter as a free service to the me.mbershi.p. No paid ads are accepted from non-members. No ads will be run for venomous species. vJhile MRS will not. run ads for known sick or illegal anirrals, we accept no responsibility for the health or legality of any animal advertised here.

Please LIMIT SIZE of ad to approx. four (4) lines. Business cards make acceptable ads.

EDIWRUS NO.rE:

MRS DELI Re~er:

meeting.

order frozen rats and rat pups no later than 7:1210pw. the MONDAY before the Call Bruce or Connie at. 593-121298 t.o place your order.

FRESf-I FROZEN RATS - JUMBO SIZE - $2.121121 FACE FRF:SB FROZEN FAT PUPS - $5.121121 PER OOZEN 3 roZEN PUPS or 6 ADUIlI' RATS LIMIT!

FOR SALE: Frozen adult miCE' ($6/dz), adult. rats ($2/ea), & med. size short. hair quinea pigs ($1.5121 / ea ) • Call Vence or Nanette at ( 612) 869-8547 evenings.

FOR SALE: Breeding colony of 3.2 Smooth-scaled Sandboas Eryxjohi $6121121 for group.

Other herps also available.

Contact: John Meltzer, 141 Powell Circle No., Big Lake, MN 5531219. (612) 263-788121.

FOR SALE: Frozen mice (pinkies, fuzzies, juveniles), 50ea/$26.5121 reservation only, can be delivered to rronthly M.R.S. meetings.

Contact

sold by Bruce @

(612) 593-121298.

FOR SALE: New'1::orn available in April: Carpet. Pythons (except.ional high contrast New Guinea "jungle phase" stock) $25121/pair. Brazilian Rainbow Boas (orange phase) $30121/pair. Orders exceeding 1 pair will be discounted. Photos of parent stock $1 each. Cont.act Glenn Lewis, 2635 Larch Lane, Plynouth, MN 55441. (612) 559-2334.

FOR SALE: 4.2 Darwin Mice (look like 4" rabbits or chincilla) $10/ea.

Dwarf Chinese hamsters, naturally tame, $3/ea/ma.les, $5/ea./female. 121.1 Marine toad & 1.0 Gold Marine toad, roth 7" sitting, $25/ea. 3.121 African Bubbling Kassina runnjng frogs $2121/ea. 1.121 yearling Corn Snake & 121.1 12" Corn $25/ea. Contact David (612) 444-9775.

FOR SALE: Herp Books, including Romer I s Osteology of Reptiles, Lane I s Life with Ionides, and Wood I S Raymond L. Ditrrers - A Biography. Send for Complete listing.

John .Moriarty, Natural History Books, 1438 Shryer Ave., Roseville,.MN 55113.

0.8 Spotted Turtles CleIIll1Ys guttata, 121.4 Florida Box Turtles Terrapene carolina bauri, 1.2 Muhlenberu Turtles Clerrroys muh1enbergi to be used for captive breeding. Call (718)837-7231, 7 to 10 pm, or write Vincent J. Congro, 212131 73rd St., Brooklyn, NY 1121214.

WANTED:

7

MINNESOTA HERPETOLOGICAL SOCIETY

mL MUSI1IM OF NAlUIW. HIS'JOItY 10 c::HUICH STJIIZT 5.£•• ~YINN'I'SOrA ~101.

Jim

66 02/90 C

~ie8.d

211 Clark Street Mankato, MN 56001

MEMBERS IP

PLICATION A

T-SHIRT

ERFORM

MINNESOTA HERPETOLOGICAL SOCIETY BELL MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY 10 CHURCH STREET S.E • MINNEAPOUS, MINNESOTA 55455·0104

________________________________________________

NAMffi(~I

ADDRESS~

CITY~

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PHONE

~STAT~E

INTEREST~S

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00 YOU WISH THE ABOVE INFORMATION USTED IN THE MHS DIRECTORY TYPE OF MEMBERSHIP o NEW o RENEW o SUSTAINING.............................. 55.0.00 o CONTRIBUTING........................... $25.00 o FAMILY ................................... 512.50 Admits aJl members of a family to monthly meetings o lNDIVIDUAL .............................. S10.00

7/86

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DYES

DNO

OFFICIALMHS T-SHIRT SO MO LO XLO $7.00 each includes postage PLEASE ENCWSE PAYMENT WITH APPLICATION. MAKE CHECKS PAYABLE TO MINNESOTA HERPETOLOGICAL SOCIETY. MEMBERSHIP IS FOR 12 MONTHS FROM THE DATE OF JOINING. YOU WILL RECEIVE YOUR MEMBERSHIP CARD BY RETURN MAIL A RECEIPT wn.L BE SENT ONLY UPON REQUEST. \

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